A representative from the United States Department of Homeland Security presented four Minneapolis Police Department personnel with awards of appreciation at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Officers Abdiwahab Ali, Mohamed Abdullahi and Jeanine Brudenell along with First Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Ahmed Hassan were recognized for their assistance in the successful investigation and prosecution in Federal Court of a former Transportation Security Administration security officer for a hate crime against an elderly Somali male. Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, First Precinct Inspector Kris Arenson and other members of the police administration were also present at the awards ceremony.

In the evening of May 4th, 2010 Minneapolis Police Officers Abdiwahab Ali and Mohamed Abdullahi responded to an unprovoked assault on an 82-year-old Somali man in the street in the Cedar Riverside area of the city. During the investigation of a separate incident in July 2010, Officers Abdiwahab Ali, Mohamed Abdullahi and Jeanine Brudenell along with First Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Ahmed Hassan were able piece together information that led to the arrest of Mr. George Loren Thompson.

The United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General for Investigations, learned of Thompson’s May 2010 conduct as a result of his July 2010 arrest and began an investigation. Mr. George Loren Thompson was successfully prosecuted for violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and sentenced to six months in jail and three years of federally supervised release for the May 2010 attack on the elderly Somali male.